Two Lithium-Ion Battery Fires in Three Weeks Destroy Homes in Pasco County, Florida
Battery fires in Zephyrhills and New Port Richey destroyed two homes, killed a dog and displaced six people between Aug. 31 and Sept. 18.
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In 2025, fire departments serving Fruitland Park responded to 83 fire and hazmat incidents — from cooking fires to gas leaks to a single $20K building blaze. Here's the full picture.
Outside rubbish, trash or waste fire lead by count. Building fires lead by dollars. Together the top five categories make up about 64% of all calls.
Apr peaks. Mar dips. Watch for the typical fall climb starting in October.
416 incidents 2021–2025. Peak year was 2024. $1.4M cumulative property loss.
| Year | Incidents | YoY | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 71 | — | |
| 2022 | 87 | +22.5% | |
| 2023 | 79 | -9.2% | |
| 2024 | 96 | +21.5% | |
| 2025 | 83 | -13.5% |
For the 4 building fires Fruitland Park departments responded to in 2025, here's how they were classified once investigators were finished.
NFIRS Area of Origin (AREA_ORIG) for the 167 building fires investigators classified across 2021–2025. The room or location where ignition occurred — kitchens, bedrooms, exterior, vehicle areas — tells you where to focus prevention.
| # | Area of origin | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Outside area, other | 32 | 19.2% | |
| 2 | Undetermined | 22 | 13.2% | |
| 3 | Open area - outside; included are farmland, field | 21 | 12.6% | |
| 4 | Engine area, running gear, wheel area | 17 | 10.2% | |
| 5 | Cooking area, kitchen | 16 | 9.6% | |
| 6 | Other | 11 | 6.6% | |
| 7 | Wildland, woods | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 8 | Bedroom - < 5 persons; included are jail or prison | 4 | 2.4% | |
| 9 | Laundry area, wash house (laundry) | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 10 | Operator/passenger area of transportation equip. | 3 | 1.8% | |
| 11 | All other areas | 30 | 18.0% |
NFIRS Heat Source (HEAT_SOURC) — the physical thing that started it. Spark or ember from operating equipment, an open flame, smoking materials, or hot embers from a fireplace are the leading culprits nationwide. Here's the Fruitland Park mix.
| # | Heat source | Count | Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Undetermined | 61 | 36.5% | |
| 2 | Hot or smoldering object, other | 13 | 7.8% | |
| 3 | Heat from powered equipment, other | 11 | 6.6% | |
| 4 | Heat source: other | 10 | 6.0% | |
| 5 | Hot ember or ash | 10 | 6.0% | |
| 6 | Flame/torch used for lighting | 10 | 6.0% | |
| 7 | Radiated, conducted heat from operating equipment | 9 | 5.4% | |
| 8 | Heat from other open flame or smoking materials | 8 | 4.8% | |
| 9 | Arcing | 7 | 4.2% | |
| 10 | Match | 6 | 3.6% | |
| 11 | All other sources | 22 | 13.2% |
Largest single-incident property losses reported by Fruitland Park departments in 2025. These 8 fires alone account for 100% of the city's annual total.
| # | Property loss | Type | Severity | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $20,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 2 | $8,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 3 | $7,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 4 | $6,500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 5 | $5,000 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
| 6 | $1,000 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 7 | $500 | Passenger vehicle fire | Significant | Investigated |
| 8 | $200 | Building fires | Significant | Investigated |
Per-capita rates let us compare apples to apples. Fruitland Park sits above the national average for incidents per resident.
11 fire-related casualties recorded in NFIRS Module 11 across the 2021–2025 window. Age, gender, and severity are coarse-binned — no individual identification possible.
| Age | Count | |
|---|---|---|
| 0-9 | 0 | |
| 10-19 | 0 | |
| 20-29 | 3 | |
| 30-39 | 4 | |
| 40-49 | 0 | |
| 50-59 | 0 | |
| 60-69 | 0 | |
| 70-79 | 0 | |
| 80+ | 0 |
Top 25 wildfires (1992+) in the FPA-FOD ignitions database, scaled by acres. 99,697 acres burned in this 50-mile radius. Each dot is a fire — bigger dots burned more land.
| Year | Cause | Acres | Distance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Natural | 10,560 | 33.2 mi | |
| 2001 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 10,119 | 45.8 mi | |
| 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 10,022 | 26.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7,500 | 38.7 mi | |
| 2016 | Natural | 5,420 | 33.7 mi | |
| 1998 | Natural | 4,200 | 39.3 mi | |
| 2006 | Debris and open burning | 4,014 | 28.0 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 3,701 | 42.5 mi | |
| 2001 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3,407 | 35.8 mi | |
| 2011 | Natural | 3,175 | 48.7 mi | |
| 1996 | Debris and open burning | 3,149 | 30.4 mi | |
| 2010 | Equipment and vehicle use | 3,111 | 22.0 mi |
Top 6 ZIP codes by NFIRS incident count across 2021–2025. Each ZIP has its own fire profile — dive in for neighborhood-level context.
Six Florida cities with population within ±25% of Fruitland Park. Useful comparison targets — same state, similar size, different fire profile.
1 departments report to NFIRS for incidents in Fruitland Park.
A 30-minute weekend can cut your home's exposure substantially. These four checklists are a good starting point.
Numbers reflect incidents reported by participating fire departments to the National Fire Incident Reporting System (NFIRS) Public Data Release for calendar year 2025. NFIRS is voluntary — about 23,000 of roughly 30,000 US fire departments report — so totals are a strong indicator, not a complete census. Per-capita comparisons use 2023 ACS population estimates. Wildland fire data complements NFIRS with NIFC and USFS perimeters. Active-fire counts come from a dated NIFC snapshot, not a live feed.